Catheterization is used in diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. For example, a cardiac catheter is used for mapping and ablation in the heart to treat a variety of cardiac ailments, including cardiac arrhythmias, such as atrial flutter and atrial fibrillation which persist as common and dangerous medical ailments, especially in the aging population. Diagnosis and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias include mapping the electrical properties of heart tissue, especially the endocardium and the heart volume, and selectively ablating cardiac tissue by application of energy. Such ablation can cease or modify the propagation of unwanted electrical signals from one portion of the heart to another. The ablation process destroys the unwanted electrical pathways by formation of non-conducting lesions. Various energy delivery modalities have been disclosed for forming lesions, and include use of microwave, laser and more commonly, radiofrequency energies to create conduction blocks along the cardiac tissue wall. In a two-step procedure—mapping followed by ablation—electrical activity at points within the heart is typically sensed and measured by advancing a catheter containing one or more electrical sensors (or electrodes) into the heart, and acquiring data at a multiplicity of points. These data are then utilized to select the endocardial target areas at which ablation is to be performed.
Electroanatomical navigation systems (ENS) are used in conjunction with cardiac diagnostic and therapeutic catheters. One such system is CARTO available from Biosense Webster of Irwindale, Calif., which is a 3-D mapping system that provides electrophysiologists with magnetic location technology and visualization data of catheter tip and curve location, anatomical mapping with rapid creation of high-resolution, CT-like maps, and a patient interface unit (PIU) as a central connection for catheters and equipment.
Catheters for use with navigation systems have control handles which carry hardware, such as one or more printed circuit boards (PCB). For example, where electromagnetic sensor location data is transmitted via a sensor cable extending through the catheter, one or more circuit boards housed in the control handle may amplify the signals and convert them to a computer readable form before the data is transmitted to a signal processing unit of the navigation system. Although catheter handles are costly, catheters are not easily sterilized so they are intended for single use only and are discarded along with their hardware/metal bearing handles.
Dongles are known. They are pieces of hardware that attach to a computer or other electronic device and enable additional functions. Dongles typically include at least one interface plug for connection to the computer or other electronic device to enable electrical connection with the same. The dongle may include a flexible cable with a second interface plug.
With rising medical costs and the move toward more environmentally-friendly (“greener”) catheters, current catheters are designed with the desire to relocate electronic hardware from the control handles to elsewhere in the PIU or other components of the navigation system. Some hardware may be relocated to a temporary location, such as a dongle, before finding a more permanent location within the navigation system. In that regard, a free-hanging dongle or a dongle with a flexible cable can be difficult to manage, especially as more dongles are used to temporarily house more components. A free-hanging dongle or one with a flexible cable may be prone to damage if knocked or bumped against other equipment and cause additional tension on any extension cable between the dongle and the catheter. Moreover, a free-hanging dongle or one with a flexible cable may be a nuisance to users who resort to using tape or zip-ties to secure or position them.
Accordingly, there is a desire for a catheter dongle with a stiffening member that would enable a user to better position and secure the dongle. There is also a desire for a catheter dongle that is more durable and less prone to damage from accidental bumping and adding stress or tension to catheter extension cables.